Vivek Athalye is a Senior Scientist at the Allen Institute working in Neural Dynamics in collaboration with Neurobiology of Action. He is also an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Washington. Vivek is interested in the mechanisms that enable neuronal populations to generate and learn dynamics that control our behavior. His lab uses computational models and closed-loop interfaces with the brain, integrating 2-photon microscopy and holographic optogenetics, electrophysiology, and behavior. Vivek received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley, where his doctoral work with Dr. Jose Carmena revealed that neuronal populations learn and generalize shared dynamics to directly control a brain-computer interface. These findings have applications for new algorithms to decode the brain. Prior to joining the Allen Institute, he was a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Columbia University with Dr. Rui Costa and Dr. Darcy Peterka, where he found that ensembles of striatal neurons specify and control actions at fine motor resolution. This work lays a foundation for understanding movement disorders such as Huntington’s disease and dystonia.